Colorado
by thegoldhat
Summary: Troy, with good intentions, plans a trip for him and Gabriella to celebrate their first anniversary. However, things aren't going as planned. TroyGabriella.
1. Anniversary

**Disclaimer.** Nope, _High School Musical_ isn't on the list of things I own.

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"Are you scared?"

"No, just afraid"

"I told you, don't be"

"One can't help but be afraid when they are currently stuck on the top of a ski hill with no knowledge of how to ski, Troy"

"You're not stuck, Gabriella. I'm going to teach you how to ski."

"Oh Troy, this was a bad idea."

"You're the one that said we should do something nice for the anniversary of when we first met."

"Yes. Something _nice_, like going out to dinner at a fancy restaurant in Albuquerque, not flying out to Colorado and going skiing!"

"But isn't it _nice_ to go back to the place we first met?"

"I'm cold."

"Well, if you would be willing to trust me, I'd help you get down and we can go to the lodge and warm up."

"You know what, Troy? There should be a ski lift to go _down_ the hill. What if a beginner skier accidentally gets on the wrong ski lift and he ends up in an intermediate hill? Huh, Troy? He's going to need a ski lift to take him down. Wouldn't he? I mean, it's not like he would try going down and risk his life or anyth — "

"Gabriella, you can go tell the people at the lodge when we get down. Seriously, we've been standing here for half and hour. Aren't you bored? There are five year old _kids_ on this hill. It's for beginners."

"Fine. How does this work again?"

"First you're going to have to get up, Gabi." Huffing, she dramatically pulled herself up off the ground. She looked at Troy expectantly. "Good. Now you're going to have to slide a bit this way," Troy said.

Gabriella took a deep breath. She had always had a fear of heights. On her trip to Colorado last year, the year she met Troy, she had stayed in the lodge all day reading while her mom and her cousins had hit the slopes. She looked down at her skis; they were white with pink floral patterns. She looked at the slope. There was a couple snowboarding and a class of little kids skiing that was slowly making their way down the hill. Then, she glanced nervously at Troy who was looking at her expectantly.

He smiled at her and she started to trudge over to where he was waiting for her. Even though it was only a couple of feet, she managed to trip and found herself on the ground once again. She heard a snort coming from above. Gabriella glared at Troy with a don't-you-dare-laugh look on her face.

She picked herself up and brushed the snow off of her red and white jacket. "Now what do I do?" Gabriella asked.

"Just let yourself slide down. Don't keep your skis straight. Make them go in a bit at the front, like a pizza shape. If you want to turn, just put pressure on the opposite leg. To stop, just make a full turn to one side" Troy instructed. He gave her a reassuring smile, which she didn't return. A nervous look was evident on the face. And her cheeks were tinted pink from the cold.

She nodded and started to slide down the hill. Gabriella shrugged nonchalantly, this wasn't so bad. It was actually fun…until her skies crossed and she started to lose her balance. Gabriella started to panic. But she quickly uncrossed them. A wave of relief passed through her…until she noticed that her skies were now parallel to each other and she started to pick up speed. A lot of speed. What a coincidence that this happened on the steepest part of the slope.

"Wait Gabriella! Keep your skis strai— I mean not straight! Stop!"

"Troy, HELP"

"Turn Gabriella, turn! No, in the **other** direction!"

"Troy Bolton, I am going to kill you!" 

"Stop! Just jump, er, fall! You're going too fast"

Gabriella's scream echoed through Troy's head as she disappeared from his view.

"Shit."

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_Author's Note_. Yeah…this is probably going to be only a few chapters long. Let me know how I did through a review. I've never written outside of school before other than this and the other two stories I've posted. So I'm not an experienced author by any means. I hope that I got that skiing stuff right. Thanks for reading!


	2. Unexpected Encounter

**Disclaimer. **I don't own it. This goes for the whole story.

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Thump.

Gabriella, for the third time that morning, had fallen on the snow.

"Ow." She rubbed her head where she had hit it. It had all been a blur. She remembered yelling at Troy then there had been this person wearing brightly colored, extravagant winter gear in her way. And she had crashed into them, sending both of them flying.

Gabriella blinked. As she tried to get up, she noticed a pair of vaguely familiar huge glasses sitting in front of her, half covered in snow. She picked them up then cautiously turned around to face the skier she had hit. Gabriella opened her mouth to apologize.

"I'm so sor— Ms. Darbus?"

The person stood up and collected her skies that had fallen off during the crash.

"Is that you Gabriella, dear?" Ms. Darbus asked, blindly looking around.

"Oh! Here are your glasses."

"Thank y—"

"Gabriella!" Troy called his voice full of concern. He came stumbling down the slope towards her. "I shouldn't have let you go like that." Troy apologized, "I'm so sor— Ms. Darbus?"

"Troy! Fancy seeing you and Gabriella here, all the way in Colorado, _away_ from Albuquerque." Ms. Darbus exclaimed with a hint of annoyance in her voice. Then she may or may not have mumbled something about 'going to Hawaii for winter break instead'.

"Nice to see you too Ms. Darbus," Troy said through gritted teeth. "Are you okay Gabi?" His attention turned toward the girl covered in snow in front of him. He looked worriedly at the large purple bruise that was starting to form on Gabriella's forehead.

"I'm fine, no thanks to you."

"Hey, it's not my fault you— "

"Ms. Da_rrr_bus!" called an unfamiliar male. He was running over towards the group, dragging his skis behind him. He looked to be about Ms. Darbus' age, and was also wearing a variety of colors. "I waited for you at ze bottem of ze hill. But, you never came." He stated, rolling his_r_s.

"Oh, Pie_rrr_e," Ms. Darbus said, battering her eyelashes, "How nice of you to worry about me." The man extended his hand to help their drama teacher up.

Ms. Darbus giggled.

Troy and Gabriella had to suppress a gag.

Soon the colorful couple was continuing their trip down the hill. Their 'I love you more's could still be heard as Troy and Gabriella exchanged glances.

"Maybe going to a fancy dinner was a better idea," Troy admitted sheepishly.

"Ya think?"

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_Author's Note._Kind of a boring chapter. Sorry about that, I'm still working on making my stories more interesting. Practice makes perfect! But if you like it so far, you'll be glad to know that I've finished the next chapter already. Pierre is my first OC [well, not if you count the dog in my oneshot. Hope he's not too bad; he was modeled after my very own History teacher. You won't see to many important OCs in my stories. I'm one of those people who can't stand them, but it's mainly the siblings/unnecessary friends. Oh, and review please. It means a lot. If I get three reviews, I'll update sooner than I would have. )


	3. Alone

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"We're lost."

"_No _we're not lost"

"…"

"Are you crying?"

"No, my eyes are just watering."

"Don't cry Gabriella, we'll find our way back to the lodge."

"One can't help but cry when they are currently lost on the top of a hill, with _little_knowledge on how to ski."

"We can just make our way down the hill. We'll find the lodge somehow."

"We wouldn't be in this situation, but you had to show me the _nice_ trail you_thought_ you knew in the forest."

"Sorry Gabi, I knew it was there last year when I came."

Gabriella whimpered and looked at her surroundings. Trees, trees, and oh look! More trees. She hadn't wanted to go on another hill so soon, but they had taken a path away from the lodge last time. Troy had insisted that this slope was the only way back. Gabriella was doubtful once she saw that it was the longest hill on the map.

"Maybe we should go back?" Gabriella asked with a hint of fear in her voice. She brushed a strand of dark hair away from her face.

Troy paused before replying, "Yeah, let follow our tracks and get back to the slope." It was getting colder. Troy glanced up at the darkening sky and saw that snow was starting to come down faster. "And hurry, Gabriella. It's getting dark soon." He said.

They made their way back to where they started. The hill was deserted, and the ski lift had stopped moving. They were alone.

"It's probably closed," He announced, checking his watch, "It's 5 o'clock."

"Closed?" squeaked Gabriella.

"Don't worry; we'll just make our way down. They didn't block the end or anything,"

"They had better not."

"Just follow me." Troy said. He adjusted his helmet before leading the way down the hill. Gabriella admired the way he skied so effortlessly before following. The scenery really was pretty she noted. The powdery snow was a brilliant white, and the evergreen trees to the side reminded her of the color of Ms. Darbus' scarf today. Her thoughts were interrupted by Troy yelling something at her.

"What?" She yelled back. Suddenly, she slipped on some ice and went tumbling down the hill.

Gabriella groaned.

_Not again._

Troy made his way to where she had fallen. He took of his skis and knelt down to help her up.

Troy opened his mouth to speak, "I said, watch out for the ice."

"Oh."

"Can you get up?"

"I think s— Ow." She cried out in pain. Her knee buckled when she had tried to stand up.

"What's wrong?"

Gabriella tried to get up again, but failed. "I think I hurt my leg, Troy." She frowned. "Now we're never going to get off this hill." She angrily kicked her ski that had fallen off with her good leg. The white and pink object slid down a couple of feet. The hill was closed, that meant there wouldn't be anyone skiing by to come help them any time soon.

"I think I know a shortcut to the lodge, Gabi"

"Please don't, Troy let's just stick to this slope even though it's the _longest_one at this resort."

He looked at her sympathetically.

"I'm never going to see my mom again." She whimpered, her eyes starting to water again.

"Yes you will."

"We'll never see our friends again."

"Yes we will."

"And our last memory of school will be Ms. Darbus making kissy faces at that guy!"

Troy chuckled.

"We're gonna be okay."

"We're going to be okay? Damn it, Troy! I can't move my freaking leg!"

Troy stared at the hysterical girl next to him. Being tired and injured certainly brought out the worst in Gabriella. He sighed and ran his hand through his hair.

"So are we going to stay and wait for help or what?" Gabriella's voice interrupted his thoughts.

Troy pondered for a moment. Then he crouched down in front of Gabriella, his back facing her.

"Get on." He instructed.

"What?" Gabriella inquired. She looked at him quizzically.

Troy smirked.

"We, Gabriella, are going to go on a nice, _romantic_ hike down this mountain to celebrate our first anniversary."

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_Author's Note_. Special thanks to **Idina is my Elphie **for giving me my first two reviews for this story! I'm pretty happy with this chapter. To be honest, I haven't really planned what's next for Troy and Gabriella. For my next story, I hope to incorporate more characters. But another story will only happen if you review!


	4. Memories

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"This is fun."

"For you it might be."

"Are we almost there?"

"I don't know."

"I think I see a light."

"Don't go! Stay with me, Gabriella! Hold on!"

"No, you idiot. **A** light. Not **the** light. I think I see a light _from the lodge_."

"Oh. Okay, good then."

A very tired Troy was carrying a very frustrated Gabriella on his very sore back. The two had been trudging through the snow (or at least, Troy had.) for a while now; they were both hoping that they get back to the warmth of the ski lodge soon. They had left most of their equipment consisting of skis and helmets further up on the hill as it would be too much for poor Troy to handle. They agreed to come back for it tomorrow._Walking,_ Gabriella had insisted. It was almost dark outside, the sky transforming from a light blue to a navy blue. The stars were out, and if the couple didn't think of their pains, it really was a marvelous sight.

"Am I too heavy?"

"No, it's fine."

"You're sure?"

Troy replied, "You're not heavy – without the weight of the winter jacket, boots and my winter jacket …and boots."

"Sorry." Gabriella mumbled, feeling guilty. It _was_ her fault for complaining and not paying attention to where she was going, making both of them suffer the consequences.

"It's not your fault." He smiled, although she couldn't quite see from her position.

"Do you want to take a break? We're almost at there anyway. The light's clearer now."

"Okay, if you don't mind."

Gabriella cautiously slid off of Troy's back and on the fluffy, untouched snow bank. She took of her gloves and proceeded to warm up her hands by rubbing them together. Snow had gotten its way in during her previous fall, and her hands were shaking from the cold. Seeing this, Troy, being the gentleman he was, offered her his mittens. "No, you keep them." She refused.

"Mittens are warmer than gloves," He held the pair of black objects in front of her face until she took them. Gabriella glanced up at his caring face, she really was lucky to have found a guy like him. Reluctantly, she accepted his generous offer and swapped her gloves for his mittens.

Troy took a seat on the snow beside her. "It's a lot colder than Albuquerque." He noted.

"But the stars are beautiful, you can't see as many where we live. All that light pollution." She sighed.

"They're not the only beautiful sight out here."

Gabriella blushed, making her cheeks even redder. Without any warning, she crashed her lips onto Troy's. The young couple made out, oblivious to the sky was turning even darker, fast.

"What was that for?"

"A thank-you."

"Is that what I'm going to get every time when I give you a compliment now?"

"It's for taking me here, and trying to teach me how to ski."

"I thought you hated it."

"I didn't …hate it exactly. I was just a bit disappointed at first." She paused, "But now, I'm really starting to enjoy this." She opened her arms wide, her palms facing the sky.

Grinning, he said, "I'm glad you appreciate it."

Troy leaned over to kiss her again, but she stopped him from moving her head out of the way. "We should get back first." Gabriella informed him, pointing up to the night sky. "We won't be able to see anything any longer."

He looked at her dejectedly. "Fine. Up you go."

She heaved herself onto his back, ready to finish the journey they started, but with a new perspective on their trip. "We can continue when we get back." Gabriella suggested. Troy's only response was picking up his pace.

A few moments later they were close enough to hear music coming from their destination. Gabriella hummed along to a few tunes, singing the lyrics to some she knew. Troy laughed. "Am I that bad, Troy?" she inquired, embarrassed.

"No, just cute."

She swatted him on the back of the head playfully before continuing to hum one of her favorite songs.

"We're almost there," He stated.

"Finally."

Troy walked on, and a new song was playing. A very familiar song, which both of them knew by heart.

"_It could be the start of something new…_"

It was the song that brought them together in the first place. The reason as to why they were here now.

"We should go here every year." Gabriella whispered. The place held so many memories. Wonderful memories.

"Of course."

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It's done. _Finally_. Not my best, but for my first real multi-chaptered story …I'm pretty pleased with the out come. Thanks to my reviewers, Idina is my Elphie, xxZanessaxx, kathyt222, mars.x, and jakelsx.


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